Kraven the Hunter

I've been quite generous in how I've received (the apparently now finished) 'Sony’s Spider-Man Universe', but even I can't give you any positives for this one.

'Venom' is its peak, though I genuinely enjoyed 'Madame Web' (don't @ me) and even (the not good) 'Morbius' didn't overly bother me. 'Kraven the Hunter', however, did well and truly bore me. Aaron Taylor-Johnson offers a glimmer of hope, but this makes for a looooong 2hrs 7mins (why that long, I have no idea).

The first few scenes, whilst nothing exceptional, are actually perfectly OK - I thought so, anyway. Though pretty much from the introduction of a young Calypso (no hate on Ariana DeBose btw, I like her and she tries) the movie quickly spirals. The characters of Russell Crowe and Alessandro Nivola (he, too, tries) are, to put it kindly, rather irritating.

Christopher Abbott's role has some potential attached to it, though that countdown thing got repetitive real fast; almost as quick as 1... 2... nevermind. The stuff with Fred Hechinger's part, meanwhile, is bizarre, sure it makes sense based on his (bad) final scene but the whole voice bit felt silly at every moment; esp. when imitating Crowe's Nikolai.

Probably for the best that this character and franchise ends here.

I can't really go lower than a six for this because ATJ is just so easy on the eye. Reductive? Well, yes, but if that's the only card a film has then you might as well get your shirt off and play it! Sadly, that is all that can really be said for this plodding superhero adventure. The "Kravinoff" siblings "Dimi" (Billy Barratt) and "Sergei" (Levi Miller) are taken out of their posh school by their oligarch father (Russell Crowe) and taken on a hunt in Ghana to develop their masculinity. They are on the trail of a lion called "Czar" and it's an encounter with him and then with a local girl called "Calypso" (Diaana Babnicova) that sees the latter brother emerge injured but changed. Quite profoundly changed too! Skip on many years and the "Sergei" (now Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has no relationship with his father, though is still in contact with his brother (now Fred Hechinger), and he has developed some remarkably animalistic ninja skills. He's the ultimate in natural forces for good. Meantime, though, things are hotting up amongst the criminal fraternity and a chance re-encounter with a grown up "Calypso" (Ariana DeBose) sets up a denouement with a nasty baddie who has to survive on refrigerated gel packs from his rucksack else he gets especially thick-skinned. Along the way there are several, quite violent, escapades that allow the star to show off his physical prowess, Crowe to show off his thick Siberian accent and Hechinger to look about as weedy as possible. Thereafter there isn't an original bone in it's CGI-fest of a body. The script is actually pretty diabolical and the plot really struggles to get off the ground as this lumbers, quite literally, along for over two hours. It's as if it were a few episodes of a mini-series hastily condensed into a film; it's bitty, disjointed and the denouement is all rather underwhelming. Clearly there is scope for a sequel, but I doubt anyone will have an appetite for it.

I know this film has attracted a lot of criticism but I personally don't think "Kraven, The Hunter" is a bad film.

Firstly, this is a fresh, down to earth, departure from your standard Marvel Franchise films.Idiots in over bright Lycra or Spandex outfits, are, thankfully, absent.

Instead, you get a more conventional, satisfyingly believable, character. One who happens to be have been given special powers, that feel primal and earthy, compared, for example, to hammers and lighting bolts.

Actions reasonable too, with settings I could relate to and a story that's well told, if unsurprisingly, somewhat formulaic.

In summary, one of the better Marvel universe franchise films. One I actually largely enjoyed watching, in spite of my initial reservations. Worth a look.

Kraven was what I would call a good holiday action film that probably didn't get a good chance. I have no idea why it seems every Marvel associated movie is getting the fan negativity treatment. Not every movie will be a triple A Endgame film. Kraven was a secondary character at best in the comics so I think you have to set your expectations appropriately. I hope that the movie does well on streaming and physical sales. I would have liked to see how the story arc would have gone in future films but unfortunately it probably won't get a sequel.

My advice to anyone watching movies these days is go see it yourself and don't believe the charged reviews.

I thought the story was good, the acting was fine and the special effects were done well and more grounded and gritty than your normal super hero movies. Kraven was another antihero type in this film and I think that worked well for his introduction.

Another point is like many comic book movies, this wasn't necessarily true to the comics but I enjoyed the character and story nonetheless.